Ferris Wheel

In my work and imagery, I make use of the body in a disfigured and distorted manner as a way to unpack my trauma as well as to capture the memory and reality of time. In doing so I make use of marks and scars on the body, specifically my body, as forms of mementos or stories of our past left on the skin and body. I make tribute to my father by using tools-like leg structures and flowers or plants that represent the friendly but contrastingly unfriendly world that took him away from me.

I illustrate this through my chosen palette of yellow, brown, green as well as blue which symbolise and evokes a sense of nature. In addition, I make use of furniture to create a sense of home to pay respect to my father and as a cathartic process to remember him by. The flowers in my work and in the spaces I create, are symbolic of the connection I feel to my father.

The legs play a significant role in my work as they are the parts of my body that were most affected in the car accident. I disfigure and mutilate the legs by having them appear cut off or severed. I then try join them by using pink wire/metal implants and stitches, similar to my surgery. In doing so I start to visually narrate the traumatic event that has affected my life. In some of my work I add fishnet stockings worn by the legs in order to symbolise and explore my need to embrace insecurities of scaring and disfigurement of my legs. They act as a sort of window through which the viewer can observe my legs. In doing so I aim to emphasise and reclaim a sense of feminine beauty and amativeness, taken from me in the car accident.